A Higher Order: Battle for Huntsqueen
by RottenRogue7
Summary: New York City is about to go through the worst series of events it's ever seen. All magical creatures are in danger, the huntsclan is at risk and as for the Dragons... none are safe. An old foe and new one, Jake can only handle so much.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys! This is a little sample of a story started from one of my plot bunnies. Thi is just a test to see what reactions I get. If you like it, then review and tell me if you want me to continue... if you don't... then walk away...walk FAR away!_

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Sometime, in life you find that good things happen to good people when they deserve it and bad things happen to bad people because they deserve it. Unfortunately, as the fates may have it, in this world it is more likely that good things will happen to bad people and bad things, horrible things happen to good people.

Inside St. Bernard's Hospital, on the sixteenth floor sat a distraught Jake Long, the American Dragon, staring at his mistake, his horrible mistake. He shook his head in shame. "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry." He whispered in the grim green glow of the heart monitor as he gazed at Trixie.

Gingerly, he touched her bruised and battered face. With his index finger his touched the long, thin scar that extended from the right side of her forehead, over her eye and to the middle of her right cheek. He touched her the blue and black welt on the side of her neck, the chapped ness of her lips and without even realizing it he suddenly had her hand in his.

Hot tears began to form behind his eyes as guilt began magnifying within him. How was he going to explain this to Trixie's parents, to his parents, to his grandpa? How was he going to explain it to the Dragon Council? Other than his Grandfather, the Dragon Council was something he did fear and with good reason, what had happened that night had to have broken over fifty magical laws of conduct. All of that sat in the back of his mind, however, as he stared at Trixie's inanimate body.

The room door opened, letting in unwelcome light from the hallway, and in walked a nurse. Her orthopedic shoes squeaked on the floor, annoying Jake in his already solemn state, "Well, good heaven child." She whispered, her Scottish accent still seeping through, "Lets turn on some light and…"

"No, keep them off." Jake told her authoritatively. He didn't want anyone seeing the shame written clear across his face, "Trixie hates it when people turn on lights when she's sleeping."

The nurse gave him an awkward stare but complied, taking her gloved finger off the switch. She hobbled over to the machines that Trixie was hooked up to and checked over the numbers and figures on them. "Yup… uh-huh… okay," she jotted down things on her clipboard, "You're Jacob Luke Long, correct?" she asked him.

"Yeah that's me."

"The police are downstairs, they would like to talk to you."

Jake felt his face flush red with anger, "I told them before, we were skating and she fell," he lied, "That's all."

"Mmhmm…" the nurse didn't believe him for a second but didn't pursue the issue further, seeing how flustered he was already. "In any case, her parents will be here soon. Enjoy your visit." And with that she left, once again leaving Jake and Trixie alone.

He took her hand in his again. It was cold yet still soft, Trixie made it part of her morning ritual to put on lotion… just in case Kyle Wilkins wanted to hold her hand. "I'm sorry, Trix! Please wake up, please!" he found himself begging, even though he knew it wouldn't help.

His pants suddenly started vibrating, "What, Fu?" he asked rather rudely as he answered his phone.

"Hi to you to, kid." Fu dog grumbled. Already aware of why Jake was in such a melancholy mood he didn't bother pushing the kid, "Look, I know that at this moment there is only one piece of new that could bring you down worse but you need to know."

Jake, still holding onto Trixie's hand, sighed, "Then don't tell me, I already know."

"Actually, you don't." Fu began, "The Dragon Council is up in arms right now debating on whether to take not only yours but Lao Shi's as well. You gotta appeal to them by tonight or they'll be here for you tomorrow morning." Fu exasperated.

Jake's eyes flew open. He knew they were going to want to take his dragon powers but why his grandfather's power to? With another sigh he let go of his motionless friend and stood up, "Alright, I'll be at the shop as soon as I can."

As he headed for the door voices caught his ear. They belonged to Trixie's parents. How lucky for him that they both were in town when he messed up so badly? Thinking quickly he changed into his dragon form, "Trix, I promise. I will find a way to wake you up."

The doorknob began to turn and he took that as his cue to fly out of the window.

Trixie's mom burst through the door, tears streaming down her face, "Trixie! Trixie, my baby!" she cried, hoping that her deafening sobs would wake her daughter up. "Wake up, please!" she cried again.

"Baby," her husband attempted to calm her. She wasn't listening and persisted to make noise, "Baby, stop." He took his wife and held her tight, his army training coming in handy. "Be strong, be strong." Even though he said it, he was having trouble following his words. Seeing his daughter, his child laying in a hospital bed, unconscious and unmoving was unbearable… even for a man who has seen the harsh conditions of war.

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**_Mmk so how did you like it? Good...? TELL ME!_**

**_Reviews make me love you long time... not really... sorry?_**

**_TD16_**


	2. Chapter 2

_Oooo another chappie! This is the signal of my updating all of my stories more. Woot! _

_Enjoy_

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[Three Years Later

"Goo-oo-oo-d morning New York City!" The over exuberant radio DJ said, sending a shock wave through the speakers and into Jake's sleeping form. He jolted awake, nearly falling out of his bed in the process.

His eyes were wide and his hair tousled mess. He looked at the glowing green numbers on the clock-radio and sighed, "7:00. On a Saturday." He groaned.

For the last year, technically the last twenty months, almost two years, he's been waking up early on weekends and twice as early on school days, to go train with his grandfather. Why? The guilt that enshrouded him ever since Trixie's accident left him wanting, needing, more power. He felt helpless, weak—and he didn't like it.

With another groan he swung his long tan legs over the side of the bed. He had grown in great intervals since he started training, going from five-five to nearly six-two and he liked it. Another benefit of all the training, the muscles. Every bit of his body was a rippling mass of strength and endurance. Rock hard abs, toned arms, legs that could crush steel, titanium, and various other metal alloys—he looked good.

Jake sauntered over his dresser and slammed two fists into the wood, not in anger but in horrid sadness. He looked up, scowling at his own reflection. Now and days he found it hard to look at himself, no matter how good he looked to other people. "It's to much," he said into the dim light of his room filtering in from outside, "Why Trixie?" he asked.

He asked himself that question almost every morning, almost every day and almost every night. Why Trixie? He flashed back to the exact moment he fleeted out of the window of the hospital.

He landed a few feet from the hospital and sixteen floors down from Trixie's room, in the cover of various vegetation. With out another moment his phone went off again. Jake pulled out in agitation, "Spud?" he tried not to yell after seeing the Caller ID, "Now isn't…"

"The Dragon Council wants you here… now!" Spud sounded frantic, cutting Jake off. He was shrieking in his unusually usual scared high pitch.

Jake's eyes went wide, "Damnit!" he cringed, "I'll be right there." And then he hung up.

He bit down, hard, on his bottom lip, still managing to curse whatever way possible. Without anymore thinking he raised his hands high over head and took a deep breath. His hands began to glow bright blue and swirls of energy surrounded them, "Dragon up!" he shouted. In a flash he transformed into his muscular dragon form, stretched his wings wide and propelled himself into the air.

He would have a lot to answer to the second he got to his uncles shop, a lot he knew would not be easy to answer, explain or justify.

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Jake arrived at the shop just in time to catch his grandfather, Fu and Spud being shackled to the walls. He stormed in, forgetting to revert back to his human form before knocking the door in. Glass flew everywhere, the Council was not amused.

He stumbled in, powering down as soon as his clawed feet hit the hard wood of the electronics shop. He looked around almost feverishly at his be shackled Grandpa and friends.

Standing before him in the most menacing way possible were the four members of the Dragon Council; Councilor Andam the Dragon of Africa, Councilor Kulde the Dragon of Europe, Councilor Kukhan the Dragon of Central America and Councilor Omina the Dragon of Atlantis. They were all scowling in their ceremonial robes, sending a shiver down Jake's spine. Despite the fear he found himself quickly enraged.

"What is the meaning of this," he managed to say in a hoarse voice, "Untie them immediately!"

Councilor Andam stepped forward, he always seemed to be the head of all Council affairs. He had a calm, composed face despite the chaos that seemed to manifest itself in the air around him. He gave a Jake a smile, "Young dragon," he began, still stepping towards Jake slowly, "You are in no place to make demands."

Jake was hot with anger. He clenched his fists together in an effort to keep himself from attacking Andam, of whom he had respected at one time, "Why have you tied them up? They had nothing to do with…"

"Calm yourself, Jake." Andam said once he was directly in front of the angry teenager. He reached out with an elegantly long fingered, smooth cheastnut colored hand and placed it on Jake's shoulder, "No harm will come of your uncle, Fu, or this strange," he emphasized the word strange, "human Spud. No. We just need to make sure you'll sit and listen because this is a very delicate matter…"

Councilor Andam had to pause for a moment as Councilor Kulde came forward and whispered something in his ear. Even after secretly activating his dragon hearing Jake couldn't make out a single word that was exchanged. Councilor Andam suddenly looked petrified where he stood, moving only enough to look back at the other to councilors who nodded in obviously compliance.

Regaining his fluid composure after another moment of frozen stature and continued his interrupted sentence, "The delicate situation has become even more fragile as it seems." He said in a shaking voice.

Jake didn't understand what was going on. He did understand that Trixie was in the hospital, fighting for her life because of his stupidity. He looked at the councilors in front of him, "Councilor Andam, Kulde, I'm willing to accept whatever punishment you have prepared for me." He said, inclining his head in defeat.

Councilor Omina sighed from behind him, "It means nothing now, young dragon." She said. It didn't sounds like forgiveness in her voice, Jake noted, it sounded more like acid.

Before he had a chance to ask what was going on Kulde raised his hand, "The situation has escalated and we must take immediate action." He said authoritatively.

The two men and the woman began heading for the door of the shop. Omina was already out before Jake found it in himself to ask what was going on. "Councilor Andam, sir." He spoke up.

Andam turned only a third of his face to Jake, "American Dragon?"

"What's going on?"

The Councilor chuckled, but not in a happy way. It was a melancholy sort of snicker that a person would give when a situation got to bad for words. "Trixie, that is her name, right?" he asked Jake.

"Uh. Yeah, that's her name. She's the reason this was called right?" Jake asked in response.

"Correct." Councilor Andam said. He sighed and looked outside at his fellow council members opening up a portal outside and going through. He waved them off, signaling that he'd be there soon. When he turned back to Jake he looked almost sad. "Young dragon. We planned on suspending your powers for an allotted amount of time for what happened tonight. A mortal was dragged into magical affairs. Do you know the amount of damage control that has to be done because of your irresponsible decision?" he asked sternly.

Jake was taken aback. His head sagged but he nodded, suddenly feeling even worse about what had happened.

Andam recoiled, seeing his angry face in the monitors behind him. He liked Jake to much to scowl at him. Shaking his head, "In any case what you've done suddenly seems insignificant." He paused to smile at Jake's confused face.

"Approximately the same time yo burst into those doors"—he motioned towards the shop doors—"Trixie's visiting parents left as well, apparently her mother could no longer handle the sight of Trixie's inanimate body and went to hysterics. She had to be escorted back home.

"So they made it to the bottom floor of the hospital before the nurses came running. We had a special team of nurses brought in to look after he wounds. While they were tending to now both of her histerical parents they contacted the cousil at once." He had to stop. It seemed like he was weighing each word in his mind carefully, sorting through them deliberately before saying them to Jake. He sighed, the moment of silence becoming to much even for him, "Huntsclan members broke in and took her."

"WHAT?!" Jake hissed.

Huntsclan. Of all the things he could have said it had to be Huntsclan.

Jake suddenly growled, something he never did before, but it was nothing compared to the fire brewing in his belly, "Where is she? Where have they taken her?!" his eyes turned red.

Andam placed his hand beck on Jake's shoulder, "We're doing all we can, American Dragon. Please do not do anything rash." He shook his head. "Until further notice you are not to go looking for the Huntsclan, do you understand? You are to leave this to the higher-up's."  
"Councilor Andam! I can't do that!" He yelled, "She's my friend!"

Andam sighed, "That's precisely why you can't be involved. You're to emotionally attached to the victim. Let's say you actually found her and the Huntsclan fortress, hm, what would you do then?" he questioned, although an answer had already been formulated.

Jake growled, "I'd get Trixie out of there."

"Correction," Andam quickly interjected, "You'd go after the Huntsman."

"Trixie's well being would come first."

"No. You would want to even the score and then some. Even as we talk yor thoughts are fleeting towards the death of the huntsman and every Huntsclan member who was involved or not. Right now you want his blood on your hands." Andam said in an all to calm voice. "Jake. Our way is not to kill; it is to preserve what we know is right."

And then, in a graceful motion, Councilor Andam slid passed Jake, his cape making the subtle sound of cutting through the air. He was out the door and forming a portal before Jake could object again.

The Huntsclan, Jake repeated in his head a thousand times in a split second. With tears in his eyes and a fury never felt before in his heart, he fell to his knees, fists clenched.

"Uh, Kid, "Fu dog suddenly chimed, "We're still tied up.

A sudden knocking at his door shook him out of his deep dark memory. He looked towards his bedroom door and angrily shouted, "What?"

"Can I come in?" a soft voice permeated through the door.

It was Haley, Jake's little sister.

"Who's with you?" Jake questioned.

"No one. Mom and Dad already left for work." She said.

He sighed and nodded to himself before replying to his sister, "Yeah, whatever."

As Haley stepped through the door, Jake dug through his drawers for something that didn't smell like week old cheese in the sun. Haley scrunched her nose up and reached for the light switch, "Don't. I like it dark." He said as though he eyes in the back of his head.

Haley slowly brought her hand back down to her side and stood in the doorway. She wasn't oblivious to her brother's emotional transformation and like the others around him she indulged in his bleak behavior without many questions. Also like the others, she was very worried about him.

He rarely came out of his room and often had to be forced to eat something. School, he rarely attended now and days yet was making passing grades, though that wasn't saying much. All he did was wake up, go train for hours upon hours with or without his grandfather and then sneak back into the house at all hours only to sleep for a few hours and start again. Not much of a social calendar.

He did, however, keep in contact with Spud, the one person he felt could understand how he was feeling—they had both known and missed Trixie very much and both felt guilty for whatever was happening to her at that very moment. He and Spud still went on missions together but not without Jake heavily outfitting his friend beforehand. Together they were a force to be reckoned with.

Spud's clumsy nature was soon lost after he started Kung Fu training under Lao-Shi himself. He now processed a black belt in the deadly martial art and was skilled in using magic to an even greater degree. He usually thanks his great grandfather for that. More often than not he accompanied Fu Dog to market when needing supplies.

"Jake," Haley dared speak after the silence (and the smell) in the room began to suffocate her, "I made breakfast. Scrambled eggs and toast." She said sheepishly.

Jake pulled a white shirt out of his drawer and a pair of dark blue jeans out of the one below it. Since he was only wearing boxers to begin with he slipped both articles of clothing on without even looking at his sister.

Haley took a small step into the room, "It's Saturday, are you sure you want to train today?"

Still he said nothing.

"That's to expected." She sighed, "What should I tell mom and dad?"

Jake finally looked at her, his face unreadable, "Tell them what you always tell them."

"Lies?"

"Yeah those." He smirked, eyes still emotionless.

Haley frowned but decided it best, as she always did, not to try and argue with her older brother. She merely took a step back into the doorway and sighed. She chewed on the inside of her cheek and began tapping her foot rhythmically on the floor, "You know, Jake," she began trying not to notice her own voice quivering, "This whole bad boy act of yours got old about two years ago!" she yelled.

"Shut up Haley." He said softly, shifting through a pile of clothes on his floor for his red leather jacket with the yellow J on the front.

"No! I'm so sick of this, sick of you!"

"Shut up Haley."

"I don't see why you're so sulky. If you weren't paying more attention to Rose than Trixie then none of this would have happened."

"Haley!"

She continued, "Trixie wouldn't have gotten hurt, she wouldn't have ended up in the hospital!"

"Haley shut up!" Jake yelled.

"Why don't you shut up!? Why don't you stop wallowing in your own self pity and go look for Trixie—that is, if she isn't dead yet!" Haley paused to turn her tear strewn face from her brother, "If she's dead, Jake. Her blood is on your hands!"

"Get the fuck out!" he yelled with such ferociousness that Halley winced. No matter how many times she heard his growl she could never get used to it.

She cringed, still in the doorway, "Yeah, whatever." She said before walking away and slamming door shut.

Jake finally found his red leather jacket with the yellow J on the front and smiled, "Gotchya."

With that he opened his room window, dragooned up and flew out, heading for the spot in Central Park where he a Spud often trained together.

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_Uh huh! Read and Review please._

_oh, and thankyou,_


	3. Chapter 3

More more more!

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Before Jake could even land a purple beam shot up at him from below the canopy of the trees. He dodged quickly and smiled. Even with his bigger, bulkier body he could still dodge things with as much ease as he did with his more lanky, stringy body.

He banked to the right to dodge yet another beam, obviously Spud was already waiting for him, arsenal at the ready.

Jake preferred his friend this way, alert, dangerous. In all honesty Spud was more dangerous than any magician he had faced before after training with his grandfather. Eli Pandarus was nothing compared to Spud in his present state. Even the magic folk admired him now and not because of his friendship with the American Dragon. Jake often found that people would recognize Spud before him on some occasions and was perfectly fine with that.

"Whoa." He said as he barely managed to avoid another attack, maybe a different spell considering the different color of the beam. Spud was getting good, a little to good. He decided it was time to switch to the offensive.

He dove, straight down, into the trees, hoping that Spud couldn't tell where he was. He was in a very thick section of the forest, heavy with moss and shade.

"Iporvious!" he heard Spud shout from somewhere nearby. Almost immediately he found himself swerving to avoid a bright green laser coming at him.

He managed to dodge it but because he was looking backwards while flying he crashed, head first, into the thick trunk of a tree.

As he slid down the length he had time to not only curse himself but swear that he was avenge himself. He morphed back into his human self once he found purchase on the moist ground.

"Ha," Spud climbed over a log to his friend, "So is that a point for me, or the tree?" he teased.

Jake got to his knees and rubbed his right cheek diligently, "Very funny, Spud."

Spud, over the last three years of intense training, had grown, just like Jake but more so. His skinny body had long since morphed into a large tower of pure muscle although his eating habits stayed the same. He now stood at a whopping six-five, completely dwarfing Jake just like when they were in eighth grade.

"Come on, man," he held out a hand to help Jake up, a big smile still on his face.

Jake smiled back and graciously took his friends hand, "You're getting really good." He complimented. Not like he could deny it anyways, he did just run into a tree, "I might have to ask the old man to train you less and me more."

Spud made a pouty face, you wouldn't dare. Or else your trusty sidekick may not be so trusty." He joked.

Jake suddenly stopped midstride and looked Spud right in his eyes. Spud looked confused and jerked his head for Jake keep walking, "What's up man?" he asked.

Jake shook his head, "You're my best friend, Spud." He said in a tone.

"And you're mine."

"Are you sure you want to keep coming with me while I'm doing my Dragon duties. I wouldn't blame you if you stopped coming with me." He said in an even more serious way, "You get to have a normal life."

Spud turned all the way around, "Jake," he started, shaking his head slowly, "We've been through this a million times. I made a promise to you the day Lao-Shi said he'd train me."

Jake nodded, smiling a little, "Yeah, yeah, that we'd find and rescue Trixie," he paused, "Together."

"Exactly."

They stood there like that for a moment, Jake sorting through his thoughts. He couldn't imagine going through all this without Spud by his side, "Spud," he said, beginning to walk again. Spud quickly gained pace next to him.

"Yeah, dude?" he asked.

Jake laughed a little before saying,, "I'd totally go gay for you."

"DUDE!"

They laughed all the way through the park, down the street and into a local pizza shop where they would meet their very elusive informants.

They took their usual seats, as this was a routine Saturday, and ordered their usual pizza with everything on it, Minus mushrooms, Spud thought they were unpredictable. One of his odd quirks that stayed with him through the years.

Jake locked his fingers together, placing his chin on the top of the woven flesh strcture made in a pensive state. He stared at the table. Spud propped himself on the windowsill to stare out the window at the passersbys that went by.

It was a sunny day, so there were lots of people out, meaning it was good they left the park when they did—the runners were sure to show up sooner or later.

Spud tapped on Jake's shoulder, a large grin on his face as he continued to stare out the window. Jake looked at him strangely, "What, Spud?" he questioned. Spud jerked his chin at the window and he looked.

Outside, three friends were doing tricks on their skateboards, two guys and a girl. They were laughing, helping each other up when they fell and high-fiving each other gleefully when someone did something cool. Jake automatically knew why it brought such a smile to Spud's face and found himself smiling to, "Eventually." He murmured.

Spud's face suddenly dropped, "We'll get her back." He said.

Both of them suddenly found themselves defended by silence. Trixie, just the mention of her name or something that reminded them of her, made them go cold. It's been three years and nothing. Jake thought that they would have at least sent someone out to tell him that she was dead—though he prayed desperately that she were safe and warm somewhere. He hoped that she was thinking of him every night, just as he was thinking of her. He wondered if she was able to see the stars every night, if she was eating right, even what music she's been listening to. He wanted to see her so badly sometimes that it hurt. And then there was Rose.

Where was she, he wondered. Maybe, just maybe they were together in the Huntsclan. Maybe Rose recognized Trixie enough to try and save her life. He often wondered what would happen if Trixie and Rose became friends. It wasn't like Rose was on Trixie's favorite persons list or anything. Then he laughed, wondering if Trixie still had that sharp tounge of hers.

"Hello Gentlemen," the voices of his informants rang in his ears. They spoke in unison, which Jake thought was kind of odd but did not say anything because today he was getting information. Real, usable information. None of that location crap his grandfather gives him, because it's always a wild goose chase. He loved his Grandfather but found, over the years, the he was to loyal to the Dragon Council for Jake's own good.

With these informants he could finally be on the right path to finding Trixie.

Both he and Spud looked at the same time, wanting to laugh at both of the boys' disguises. They were completely covered, long tan trench coats and hats with pitch black sunglasses, "Hey eighty-eight, eighty-nine." Spud groaned.

"Shh!" they both said, sitting on the booth seats. Jake and Spud moved over to make room.

Jake frowned, "Whatever. I'm not paying you for nothing."

Eighty-eight spoke up first, his voice was more tolerable than eighty-nine's nasally one, "We've got information that you are going to love, that's why…"

"We're pushing the price up." Eighty-nine interjected.

Jake frowned, surpressing a loud growl that was just itching to get out, "What?" he hissed.

Eighty-eight shrugged, "We're risking our lives being here. If he found out."

"What do you mean him?" eighty-nine interrupted, "I'm more worried about her! She's brutal."

Jake tried to make heads or tails of their little squabble. He could see Spud working on it to, probably coming to about fifty different conclusions by then—he was a genius afterall. Spud cleared his throat, "Her? You mean the Huntsgirl?" I asked, implied.

Both eighty-eight and eighty-nine shook their heads furiously, both of them turning pale, which had to be hard for eighty-eight. "Huntsgirl is nothing compared to," he gulped, "Her."

Jake could feel himself loosing it with all of their cryptic messages, "Who is this her? Tell me what I'm paying you for!"

"We told you the price has gone up." He tapped his fingers on the briefcase, "Extra for the package."

Spud suddenly raised his hand at Jake, telling him to stand down, "How much?"

"One." Eighty-nine said with a smirk.

"Hundred?"

"Thousand." Eighty-eight said, smug.

Jake nearly lost it then, "ONE THOUSAND!" he whisper-yelled, gripping at the table so hard he was leaving small trenches where his nails had been, "The original price was two-hundred!"

"Jake!" Spud yelled, "Calm down, I expected something like this to happen. I got it." He pulled his wallet out, a dingy faded brown leather one, and pulled out ten one-hundred dollar bills, folded them and handed them to the two huntsclan rejects.

Eighty-nine thumbed through them briefly, confirming the amount and then nodded at his partner, who then shoved the briefcase across the table to Jake, "Been a pleasure, boys." Eighty-nine said before getting up.

"Wish we could say the same." Spud told them.

And then they left through the door, the bell over signifying their exit as a cheery one.

Jake's hands were trembling against the briefcase, like he was cold or something. He was anxious, scared, excited. Whatever was in the case would bring him one huge step in the direction of finding his friend Trixie, his beloved friend Trixie.

He could see the same amount of anxiousness on Spud's face as he slid into the booth seat next to him. "Well," Spud began, "Open the damn thing. I paid a thousand bucks for it." He said in a joking tone but meant every word.

Jake's jaw tightened, "Right." He tried to laugh but quickly found that he couldn't.

His thumb found the latch in the center of the briefcase and flipped it up. He paused, waiting to see if it would blow up in his face, like all of his feeble attempts before. Every time he got close to something, something else would get in the way. But now—now had to be different. He could feel it in his muscles.

Spud, obviously tired of his hesitation flipped the top up unceremoniously and was suddenly awestruck, "Whoa." Was all he could muster.

There was folder after vanilla folder of paper, pictures records. What was all of it, they wondered? Jake pulled out the top folder, looked around the pizza parlor and then opened it up slowly. There was a letter and a picture attached to it. Jake held the piece of paper gingerly in his strong hands while holding the picture in the other.

Spud once again uttered, "Whoa," with a follow up of, "Who's that." He pointed at the picture.

There was a girl in the picture. Stunningly beautiful with long, straight, black hair, that extended to the middle of her back, and mocha colored skin. Her eyes were pitch black like how the sky is a the stroke of midnight—like nothingness. Some how Jake found a sense calm in them, despite it just being a picture. He stared harder, noticing the slightly lopsided smile and way she shifted her weight to oneside, with one hand on her hip sassily. Her frame was like that of a cat, graceful yet powerful. He knew her, he could feel it, but it didn't click untilSpud suddenly let out a breath he had been holding up until then, "Trixie."

Spud said her name as though he was in some orgasmic state of pleasure, Jake wished he could feel his lungs so that he could be in the same place. "No way." He said hoarsly, "She looks so…" he searched for words.

"Beautiful?" Spud added.

"Different." Was what Jake said but more agreed with Spud's statement.

Jake stared at the picture some more even after Spud yanked the piece of paper from his hands. He saw it as an opportunity to get a better look and confirm it was Trixie.

Spud cleared his throat and shook Jake, hard, "Dude, this is in Trixie's hand writing. I think she wrote this."

"What does it say?" Jake said, attention now on the paper.

"I promise to get out of here," Spud read from the paper, "No, I swear to get out of here. They can't keep questioning me. I won't tell them anything and I think they realize that but I'm scared. Scared they won't let me go. What if they…

"What if they decide I'm dispensable, that I'm not worth keeping around. And that Rose! She's not making it any easier. I swear that if they let me out of this cell then I'll do some real damage. "I looked up through my bars today and swore that I could see Jake flying but it was just a cloud blowing across the moon. I wonder what he and Spud are doing right now? I wonder if Jake still loves Rose. All the more reason for me to mess up her pretty face, I suppose. Girl friend has got a storm named Trixie Carter coming her way!"

Spud looked a Jake, "That's it." He shrugged.

Jake was in shock. They were in the same place, Trixie and Rose. But they were not getting along, as expected of them. He wondered when that was written. He bit his bottom lip and dove back into the case, "There has to be more."

Spud followed suit. Pulling out folders and looking through them.

They found many more pictures all of them of the same girl that had to be Trixie. There was one of her back in the day with her pigtails and then some from what Spud and Jake took as her in the present. From the pictures they saw her progress through time, her face lost some of it's youthfull roundness and was now in a more angular, heart-shaped form. Her hair was once unruly, after the pigtails, for a while until she got a hold of a hotcomb, they guess. She was always complaining about them back in the day.

They found her birth records and a few copies of her school records. They found, in disgust, a sandwich that was half eaten and sealed of in a Ziploc bag. There was another picture, different from all the others but of the same person. Trixie was dressed in a Huntsclan uniform now, hair pulled back into a high ponytail that looked like a whip behind her. She was frowing, lips puckered as though she was thinking about something and looking rather menacingly at the person next to her who was returning the glare. Jake recognized the blond hair and blue immediately, "Rose" he muttered.

"Jake. Another piece of paper." Spud said excitedly. He eagerly wrenched it from the folder and held it up to his nose, "Her handwriting is more refined in this one—bout time," he tried to joke, "This must be from recently."

Jake urged Spud to read it. Clearing his throat Spud began to read from the page, "Soon, now. Soon all of my months of planning will come full circle and I'll bust out of here. I've proved myself to the Huntsman and he trusts me. More than Rose, especially.

"My final test comes tomorrow night when I bring home the head of a troll. Luckily Jake showed me where some lived back in the day so they'll be easy to find, bring down and hack to pieces."

Spud had to pause and re-read the beginning, there was no way that this letter could have been written by Trixie. He continued reading, "I wonder… if Jake and Spud will be there. Even if they are they probably wouldn't recognize me in my present state… no matter. I still have to do what needs to be done. The Huntsman is getting old and soon he'll need a successor. Say bye bye to your throne Rose."

That was the end of the letter.

Jake and Spud had the same look of confusion on their faces as the letter slowly drifted from Spud's fingers to the cold table. They were both thinking the same thing, that the letter could not have been from Trixie.

Spud let out a sputter of a breath, "Jake that was written yesterday." He said.

Jake's head was swimming in darkness. Written yesterday? Meaning that tonight would be when she goes for the trolls. But, Trixie, his Trixie, loved magical creatures. She used to help him protect magical creatures, therefore this couldn't be her. He didn't want it to be her.

He looked at the paper again, but did not touch it. It seemed tainted to him in a sense. She must be under some sort of mind control, right? He went through many different scenarios.

_When did she get so beautiful_, he wondered as his eyes flicked over a picture of her in a miniskirt and layered shirt. _Oh, that's right_, he remembered, _she was always beautiful_. He looked at Spud, thinking he would know what to do considering the fact that he was a genius.

Spud looked at him matter-of-factly, "Well it's obvious right?" he paused to let Jake respond with a head shake, "We go on an old fashion stake out."

* * *

_Oooooooo snap-skis! What's going on here._


	4. Chapter 4

_Hehe! It's me againnnn! Sorry it took a little while...don't blame me._

_Anywho while reading this feel free to look at my other fanfics...pwease...pwetty pwease?_

* * *

[Grandpa's Shop

Even in his old age, Lao-Shi was not one to complain or sit idle while things had to be done—that's why he was scrubbing the hard wood floors of his shop diligently. He hummed lightly, bobbing his head to the rhythm in his head.

Of course, scrubbing the floors was Jake's job and he would get an ear full the second he walked through the door. At least that's what Lao-Shi always said before he felt bed for his grandson.

He was very proud that Jake was taking his dragon duties seriously now and days but deeply saddened for the reason. He had given Jake the option of taking off on days where he felt he, Jake, could use some rest. To Lao-Shi's dismay, Jake never took him up on the offers. At one point Jake became almost robotic in his labors around the shop.

Lao-Shi threw the scrubbing rag into the little bucket next to him, ignoring the dirty brown water that splashed his robes. He couldn't bring himself to yell at his grandson when for the last three years he's been struggling for things to say to his grandson. Small talk about the wheather had long since stopped working. He sighed and sat cross legged on the floor to think in the silence of his shop.

The little bell above his door chimed loudly, accompanied by the door flying open and two franticly excited teenage boys running in, "Grandpa!" Jake said excitedly.

Lao-Shi, not used to Jake being so happy, stared bedaffled, "Jake?" Spud dropped the briefcase in front of Lao-Shi and was nearly bursting at the seams with glee. Lao-Shi looked at it precariously and then smiled, "Thank you?"

"No! Look inside!" Jake urged.

Suspiciously Lao-Shi opened the case. He pulled out one of the pictures and eyed it warily, "She is quite pretty but who is it?" he asked, looking at some of the other pictures.

Spud couldn't contain himself, "Trixie! It's Trixie!"

Lao-shi dropped everything. His eyes suddenly got wide and his mouth went agape. A lump formed in his throat that seemed to block the entire airway, cutting him off to life giving oxygen. His lips began to quiver, his tongue felt dry and swollen, "No." he said in a voice that was barely a whisper.

Jake and Spud, both still beaming down at the old man, couldn't quite understand the meaning of Lao Shi's expression. Nevertheless they were still happy. Finally Trixie was able to be found and they were going to find her—that night.

Lao Shi bent down and got on his knees to gather up the scattered photos and papers, shoving them into the briefcase. He was focused on getting those pictures off his floor and out of the shop. He began muttering something in Chinese very quickly.

"Gramps?" Jake was now by his grandfather, wondering why the usually calm Lao Shi looked so stricken with fear and anxiety. "Gramps, what's wr…"

Lao Shi raised his hand to quickly silence his grandson. He shook his head slowly and turned away, shuffling towards his dirty water bucket. "Where did you get these photos?" he asked, not looking at either of them.

Spud frowned, "We have our sources."

"We thought you'd be excited." Jake said.

Lao Shi's hand began to shake as he lifted the pail, "I-I am, Jake…" he said softly, in a way that gave Spud the notion that he did not mean it.

A smile that could light even the darkest recesses of the shadow world suddenly crept across Jake's face. Lao Shi couldn't see it but he felt it, an energy within Jake that had long since been snuffed out. He didn't dare take that happiness away from his grandson.

"Where's Fu?" Jake asked, the excitement in his voice made Lao Shi feel worse about what was bound to happen.

"In the back room."

The sound of Jake's footsteps retreating towards the hidden room in the back of the shop gave the old man a chance to sit and think. He pushed the bucket and the scrubbing brush away from him gently and sat cross legged on the hard wood floor.

"G?" Spud suddenly spoke up. He didn't follow Jake into the back room, something was telling him not to. His genius instinct.

"Yes, Spud?"

Sauntering across the floor carefully, Spud took a seat next to the old man, one elbow on his propped up knee. He didn't look at Lao Shi but could feel the air becoming colder around him, "Something is wrong, isn't it."

Lao Shi chuckled softly, "You truly are a genius." He sighed and leaned back a bit before twisting his neck left and right to crack it, relieving some bent of tension in the muscles, "Spud… you two can't go after Trixie tonight."

"What?" Spud said immediately after, eyes as wide as dinner plates, "You're joking! We can bring her home. After three long years she's can come home!"

Lao Shi shook his head.

For another minute and a half they sat in silence, listening carefully to Jake telling the story to Fu in the back room. He sounded to happy, so free. Spud let out a grunt, "Explain yourself."

"I'm not at liberty to explain anything to you, Spud."

With a hard glance, Spud rounded on the old man, "You think it's going to be any easier explaining it to Jake? Listen to him!" he jerked his thumb at the door. Once again Lao Shi fell dead silent.

As a way of trying to get rid of the subject, Lao Shi grabbed the scrubbing brush and began to run his fingers along the bristles. He just did not want to explain, especially not to Spud. He never thought he would have ti explain anything in the first place—The Council of Magic had been so careful over the years that—was this the beginning of their cautious system falling apart.

"Lao Shi!" Spud said with enough force to snapped the old dragon out of his thoughts.

It worked, Lao Shi looked at Spud with what looked to be tears forming in his eyes, "We've been so careful over the years." He blurted out.

"Careful? About what. I know you've been watching the pruned and stuff but…"

"No, no," Lao Shi put his hands up, "Careful about…" he looked towards the door to the back room.

Spud followed his water filled gaze and then frowned, "Why would you and the Council of Magic have to be careful about Jake? Does he have rabis?"

Spud's attempt to lighten the mood failed miserably. "Jake will be out of there soon and if you don't tell me then you'll have to tell him."

"You're right," he closed his eyes, one tear streaking down his wrinkled and aged face, "But what I tell you, you cannot tell Jake."

"Why?"

"I'll let you're superior intellect figure that one out when I'm done."

Lao Shi took a deep breath before continuing, weighing whether or not telling Spud was the best thing to do. Either way, knowing Spud, he would have found a way to get answers even without him.

"A while ago," Lao Shi began, "The Australian Dragon was fighting a member of the Huntsclan. It was a fair fight, one on one when…" he paused to make sure Jake was still talking to Fu dog, "While he thought he was gaining the upper hand by driving the foot soldier into the outback, he was really diving head first into an all out ambush."

Spud gave a small grunt of understanding mixed with shock. He didn't want to interrupt the flow of the story by voicing his opinion at that point.

"It was horrible, from what I hear through the network. Over fifty foot soldiers," he shuttered before continuing, "Fred was making quick work of them before _those_ two showed up."

"Those two?"

"The Huntsman and Rose." He noticed how Spud quickly dropped his eyes to the floor. Any mention of Rose around Jake was taboo.

"So then what happened? Even with all these secrets, if Fred Nerk died then…"

"Let me finish." Lao Shi instructed. He cleared is throat, "He was fighting with the very last bit of his strength when they arrived and surely would have died if… if she hadn't barged in and took him away."

Spud groaned, "Let's use names, Lao Shi."

"Right, sorry. I like mystery in my stories. Now listen up." He looked away from Spud, the finally was coming, "After spending nearly a week in the hospital in critical condition and intensive care, the Australian Dragon woke up. The Council of Magic questioned him first, whatever he said to them wasn't much to go on, and that's when the Dragon Council came in. Fred told them everything down to every last detail, not that it was hard for him seemed to linger quite heavily on the person who saved his life… so to speak."

Spud leaned in closer, "Well."

Gramps sighed again, this time longer than all the others, "According to the report, Fred Nerk described his hero as a heroine. Black, long, whip-like ponytail, cat-like grace when she moved, midnight black eyes and long lashes to match…hourglass figure,"

"Trixie!" Spud gasped.

Lao Shi nodded.

"How long ago is a while?" Spud asked, referring to Lao Shi's earlier vague time frame. When the old man didn't speak up Spud asked the question again, this time with more force, "How long!?"

"One year ago…"

The fury on Spud's now red face did not go unnoticed, "One year! You found Trixie one year ago and didn't tell Jake!"

"Shoosh, shoosh! It was in Jake's best interest."

"My ass."

Lao Shi stood up and went to stand behind his counter with the register, "It was out of my hands. The Dragon Council ordered me not to say a thing to the American Dragon because he…"

"Was to emotional attached to the subjects involved, I know, Lao Shi." Spud ran to the counter so that he wasn't yelling any louder. He prayed that Jake hadn't heard anything yet, "But is the Dragon Council more important than your own grandson?"

Lao Shi was stricken by that question as though Spud had zapped him with some sort of paralysis spell. He hated the fact that Spud was right. He hated that no matter how much he loved his grandson he had to obey the Dragon Council, he was bound by magical law—that was his way of life. He frowned at Spud, who was glaring at him in the worst possible way, "Don't pretend to be so innocent, Spud."

Spud took a step back, not knowing what he meant.

"I may have been old back in the day but I was not blind," Lao Shi said, "You and Trixie… may have been more than friends if that night had never happened. And where would that have left Jake? Alone. That's what."

"What are you saying?" Spud was down to s whisper.

"I'm saying that you're not just mad for Jake, you're mad because you still love Trixie."

"L-love Tri-Trixie?"

Lao Shi chuckled, "And because I'm not completely blind, I clearly noticed the way Jake pined for her, yearned for her when she was gone. He feels the same way for her as you do."

"They were best friends. Jake—Jake and Rose."

"He may very well still feel something for Rose but feeling for Trixie developed shortly after…"

Spud was shaking now, backing away slowly from Lao Shi, "You lie."

"Do I?"

The back room door flew open and Jake appeared a smile still on his face. The smile slowly faded once he caught whiff of the tension in the room and the look on his best friend's face, "Spud…what's wrong, man?"

Spud made a hasty b-line for the door, "No-nothing. I'll see you later Jake." And then he all but sprinted out of the door and down the side walk.

Jake turned to Lao Shi, confusion and bliss all over his face, "What was with him?"

Lao Shi shrugged, beginning to wipe down the counter with a dingy brown rag, "He's always been a bit off."

* * *

_Oh shiggety snap! Grampa ain't so lovin no, no, no._


	5. Chapter 5

**_Yeah I know... forgive me._**

Jake all but skipped back to his house, engulfed in a cloud of happy and peppiness

Jake all but skipped back to his house, engulfed in a cloud of happy and peppiness. He was going to get to see Trixie, after all these years. Sure, she looked different and was killing creatures but she was still Trixie, his best friend.

As he turned down the sidewalk to his house he began to fantasize about what would happen when Trixie saw him and Spud standing there waiting to take her back home. He imagined that she would cry, he's never seen her cry before. She would run into his arms and there he would hold her until she stopped sobbing into his jacket. He imagined the feeling of her soft hair beneath his fingers, the feeling of her skin on his. After he was done hiding the fact that he to had been crying he would bring her back to his grandfathers shop where she could get a good nights and comfortable sleep. She wouldn't have to sleep in a dungeon, how degrading for her. She wouldn't be tortured anymore. She would be safe with him—and Spud.

Haley was sitting on the stairs of their townhouse talking with Sun. They were sitting with perfect posture, as usual, no doubt talking about Haley's training and future. Her future was so bright, so filled with opportunity. Jake often spent hours wondering why she wanted to be an American Dragon like him when she could live a normal life with many privileges.

He approached the stairs with a lilt in his step, "Haley, Sun," he greeted them both with a nod and a smile.

Haley was shocked. Earlier today he scorned her and kicked her out of his room after thoughtfully expressing her worry and now he was smiling at her. _Weird_, she thought. "Hey Jake," she smiled back, "Dinner is almost ready."

Jake headed up the stairs between the path Haley and Sun's legs made and smiled back at them before heading inside, "Thanks, I'll see you at the table."

The second the door closed behind Jake Haley turned to Sun, genuine worry spread across her face. Sun seemed just as surprised. Even before the accident three years ago Jake barely ate with the rest of the family and suddenly he was going to be there. It wasn't so much not wanting him there as she just wasn't used to seeing him happy or skipping up stairs and into the house with a smile on his usually angst ridden teenage face.

"The sun shines on even the cloudiest of days, Haley," Sun recited in her sing-song voice as though she had been reading Haley's thoughts.

Haley nodded to show Sun that she understood the saying. Internally, however, she wondered what was up with her brother.

"I'll be going now, Haley." Sun stood up and brushed the tiny pieces of gravel that stuck to her long dress.

"Oh, right," Haley snapped out of thought and quickly stood up. She curtly bowed to her mentor and then turned to head up the steps.

Sun's warm energy reached her before she grip the doorknob and go into her home, "Relax," it told her. She couldn't help but feel the muscles in her body loosen and silently she cursed Sun's magical ability.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jake ate his food happily, completely oblivious that his mom, dad, and little sister were so thrown off by his presence that they couldn't eat their food. He shoved a fork full of mashed potatoes into his mouth and hummed softly to himself a song that Trixie taught him so long ago.

The clatter of his fork hitting his plate every time he went for another piece of steak was the only thing that could be heard until his dad cleared his throat. "Well Jakery-doo you seem… happy." He said, turning his attention towards his chilling plate of food.

Jake looked up, wipping a spot of steak sauce from the side of his mouth, and smiled goofily, "I'm just having a really good day is all," he told his parents. For the first time in a long while he saw them smile—at him—they were smiling at him.

"That's great honey. Glad to see you happy." His mother said.

In response he smiled and gave a small nod before going back to devouring his food. In just a few hours he and Spud would be bringing Trixie home. _Bringing her home_, he had to repeat it to himself.

Not ten minutes later Jake was done, licking his plate clean like a dog He kissed his parents on the cheeks, put his plate away in the sink and then gleefully ran out of the kitchen, "Be home late." He said to his parents as the front door closed behind him.

Spud was pacing nervously in the glow of a street lamp a few blocks away from Jake's house. The conversation with Lao Shi had been on his mind since he left the shop, slowly repeating itself, growing in intensity as the time passed. As a friend, he should have told Jake what Lao Shi had said but he didn't need his genius to tell him that was a bad idea.

He bit down on his thumbnail, looking around nervously. The last part of the conversation cut him deep, _love Trixie? Do I love Trixie?_ He questioned himself. _Does Jake love Trixie? No he can't, he loves Rose._

"Hey Spud, ready?" Jake's voice not only shocked him but send a jolt of anger and jealousy through his body. He couldn't understand why. He turned on heel, suppressing the feeling and nodded to Jake with a smile on his face.

Jake eagerly approached boyish lilt in his step. He had been smiling the whole way, yet his face was not sore. Skipping to Spud's station wagon and hopping in, Jake buckled up and began playing with the radio dials for the perfect stakeout music. He finally settled on one of Trixie's old favorites _Crazy In Love_ by Beyonce.

As Spud slid into the car he found that the song struck a sour note deep within him… then he heard Jake singing along and found that it was just Jake singing off key. "Uh, oh, uh oh, oh no no…" Jake sung along. With a sigh, Spud started the car and the headed straight for the Troll squatting grounds.

OOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

It was a thirty minute drive of eager anticipation, horrible off key singing and memories slowly flooding back to the both of them to the Troll grounds. Jake sang to almost every song on the radio and Spud joined in after a while, their voices clashing with each other.

They would have to go into Troll territory on foot so Spud parked a good five miles away. Once silence settled around the car, the two hopefuls got out of the car and headed for the trunk for supplies. Spud packed his bag in silence. A rope, first aid kit, a few potions and a book of spells Fu gave him for his seventeenth birthday last year. Jake didn't need as many supplies, as he was his own weapon, but he decided to bring an offering, just in case.

"Hey, Spud," Jake started but abruptly stopped as the thoughts formed in his mind. They were so close to her now, it was like her could feel her in his arms already. He could feel Spud's confused stare on him and continued with his previous thought, "Think she'll recognize us?" he wondered.

Spud had to look away, he had asked himself that question many times on the way there. He smiled, he couldn't tell why, "I'm sure she'll recognize a red and yellow dragon no matter how long it's been, dude." He chuckled half heartedly.

Jake laughed a bit and then smiled at Spud. Once they were both stocking up he closed the trunk and patted his friend on the shoulder, "Let's do this."

"Lead the way."

They faught their way through the thick undergrowth of Troll land. Very muddy soil, thick vines and moss covered trees made very difficult obstacles for them but at the same time it gave them hope. The worse the vegetation got, the closer they were to the Trolls and Trixie.

Once they could see the Troll colony's makeshift houses they set up their scouting area. Spud stayed where their path brought them in while Jake circled around, he could cover more ground—and air than Spud. They set their talkies to the same station and the Jake took off in another direction.

Spud set his pack down, thankful that he packed a towel on account of the nasty moist bark he would have had to sit on without it. He pulled out his spell book and began to do some studying while he waited for something to happen. He started at the beginning with spells to turn any object into apples and continued from there.

The minutes passed by slowly, soon turning to an hour and still with nothing heard from Jake. Spud picked up the talkie and held it in his hand gingerly before pressing down on the button, "Jake…" there was no response, "Jake!" he said firmer.

"Wha… huh?" Jake's voice came groggily from the other side. Spud nearly flipped his lid.

"WERE YOU SLEEPING!?"

"No! Of course not… maybe a little bit. But can you blame me?"

"Jake!" Spud scorned, "She could have walked right by you and done whatever she had to do already. She could have drawn on your face for all you know. Do you have a mirror on you… Jake?" Spud wondered if Jake was even listening to his tirade. He wondered if Jake was taking this stakeout seriously at all, falling asleep on the job. He wanted to just—

"…Spud… she's here." Jake's voice whispered through the talkie.

Spud's eyes grew wide, his heart rate suddenly going up exponentially, "What? Where?!"

Jake was hiding in a thick section of forest where there was almost no visibility in the thick leaves of the thick trees from below. He was looking down from his crotched position on a branch high off the ground, his dragon eyes glowing gold in the darkness. He could barely breath as he watched the sight below him.

A girl, Trixie was right below him, closer than she's been in the last three years. Her hair hung loosely around her shoulders, blowing in the wind created by her swift and cat-like walk. Jake hopped from branch to branch behind her. Her bright red jacket was easy enough to follow but her black boots gave her the appearance of floating through the forest. He noticed flashing in the moonlight around her finger, a gold ring, and a sack in her clenched fist. It was full and looked rather heavy.

"JAKE!" Spud's voice erupted from the talkie so suddenly that Jake dropped the it. It all happened in slow motion then. The talkie slipping from his hands, the talkie crashing to the ground not five feet away from Trixie's foot—eye contact.

Time stopped as Trixie searched the darkness for where the object came from and settled upon Jake's golden dragon eyes. She made no move, no faltered facial expression. She stood her ground, looking as majestic and graceful as she did in all the photos Jake had seen of her in the briefcase.

Jake seemed to be lost in her eyes, pitch black as the night that surrounded them both. His breath quickened and he jumped from the branch he was perched on to the ground a foot away from Trixie.

His lip quivered as he searched for something to say to her. Three years went into this moment, three long years of missing her, of feeling sorry for her, of guilt. Three years of searching, three years of threatening eighty-eight and eighty-nine. Three years of dreaming about this moment.

Spud's voice coming out of the talkie was the only thing that could be heard in stillness between the two. Jake ignored it though, he was to entranced. He studied her, from her black boots covered in moss and dirt, to her form-fitting dark denim jeans, to her black tank top with the skull on it, her red jacket and to the scar that he had given her three years ago that was auspiciously lighter than the rest of her mocha brown skin. He yearned to touch it, touch her.

"Jake?" she asked, tilting her head to one side.

Her voice hit him hard. It was so soft and fluid but it still had that underlying sass in it. He smiled and nodded, "Trixie," he breathed.

A light breeze blew between them, sending Trixie's long hair circling around her head for a brief moment. Jake was in awe, she looked like an angel, the urge to hold increased. Without realizing it his hand moved from his side and was slowly closing the space between himself and Trixie. He couldn't stop it, nor did he want to.

Trixie flinched at first but once his hand was only inches from her face she found that she wanted it. He hand shot forward and pulled his hand to her face. There was a shock of electric energy that burst through them both and the bag she was holding suddenly fell from her hands. Before it could reach the ground she was engulfed in Jake's strong arms, tears pouring down her face.

Standing in at five foot five she was dwarfed by Jake's height and his muscles. She felt like a little kid against a grown up. Slowly she wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her higher.

He tangled his fingers into her hair and took in her scent, she smelled like sweet berries, he just couldn't get enough.

Trixie put her face into the crook of his neck and held on tighter and time passed. She had missed him so much while she had been gone. She had dreamed of this moment but never would have imagined him looking the way he did. It was overwhelming in the least. His muscles were so warm around her and she could feel his blood pulsing through the veins in his neck as she pressed into him harder.

Jake looked behind her the sack she had been holding, it had opening. There were gold coins spilling out of the pack. He thought about it for a good half a second before turning his full attention back to Trixie. He could still hear Spud's voice frantically calling out to him from the talkie but didn't care, Trixie was with him now, and nothing was going to ruin the moment.

"Jake," Trixie spoke, her voice still reletavly new to him, "How did you… why are you here?" she asked him.

"Shh," he told her gently, "All that matters is that you can come home now."

Trixie pulled her face from out of his neck and looked into his eyes, nearly loosing her thought, "What?" she asked.

He smiled stupidly, "You can come home. With me and Spud."

Trixie forced herself out of his arms, "I'm sorry Jake but I can't do that." She told him, a new tone in her voice that he did not recognize.

With a stupid grin still plastered on his face he took her hand and began tugging her in the direction of Spud's car, "Of course you can! You've been found!"

"Jake let me go." She tugged back.

He didn't though. He just kept ranting about how he was going to take her to Lao Shi's shop and make her something warm to eat. Trixie, once again told him to let go but he paid her no attention.

"Jake!" she said sternly.

He finally turned and stopped talking.

"Let go before I make you let go." She told him. He didn't get it until he found himself being flug twenty feet into a tree, hard. It actually hurt him, she actually hurt him.

Last time he checked Trixie couldn't fling him like he was a small rock.

As he crawled out of the hole made from the now timber he brushed himself off, "Trix?" he asked. He couldn't tell if it was her or not… because last time he checked, Trixie's eyes didn't glow red, Trixie didn't have claws and she most definitely didn't have a long, black, furry tail waving behind her.

**_Oh snap! WHAT THE LOW FLYING PLANE?!_**

**_Read and Review please._**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay just so everyone knows what sucks about this chapter, THERE WERE 1,999 words. ONE MORE WORD and I'd have a straight 2,000!**

--

"Trixie?" Jake asked again.

The creature before him was emitting a low growl, as it's tail thrashed about behind it. Jake blinked many times, expecting himself to either wake up from a bad dream or at least for the creature to be gone and Trixie to be standing in it's place. He stood up slowly, focused on the thing, "What did you do with Trixie? Where is she?" he yelled, his own growl coming through his voice.

The cat thing recoiled from it's fighting stance and smiled, pearly white fangs shining in the darkness. It's eyes stop glowing red, the tail and claws retracted and there standing before him was Trixie. She took a few steps towards him, "Jake, you shouldn't have come here tonight." She told him.

"Where's Trixie?"

"I AM Trixie, boy!" she told him in a cold tone.

Once she was close enough to touch Jake she reached out and pulled him up by the collar of his jacket. She ignored her reflection in his eyes and pulled him so that they were almost touching nose to nose, "Listen to me!" she said once Jake started screaming obscenities at her. He didn't believe who she was. This was understandable, she knew this might happen one day but she was on a mission.

Jake stood up on his own two feet, never once taking his eyes off hers.

Trixie, once again being dwarfed, looked around before continuing, "You gotta go. Being here right now is a very bad idea." She told him, still looking around. She knew something was coming, it was just a matter of time.

"I'm not leaving unless you come with me! Trix, it's been three years. I've missed you so much!" Jake suddenly blurted out without knowing what he had done. When Trixie's hard expression faltered for a brief moment he took the opportunity to continue. "Where have you been all this time? Are you okay? Why haven't you tried to contact me?"

She didn't answer a single question, just stared at Jake with sentimental eyes clouded with an array of other emotions. What was she doing the entire time? Trying not to be killed, that's what. "Jake," she said slowly, "There is so much to be explained but now isn't the time." She turned to start walking towards the sack of gold she had dropped earlier only to be stopped by the hands of Jake.

"Where are you going?"

"Jake we've both got to get out of here right now." She tugged.

"I'm not going anywhere until you give me some answers, Trix. Do you know what we've gone through to find you, what I've gone through?" he asked her, his eyes starting to sting.

There was an explosion of noise coming from some direction behind them, Trixie suddenly looked panicked. "Jake I promise you will see me again, but for now, we have to leave this place." She told him, twisting free of his grasp.

"When?" he called after her as she began to run off.

"Sooner than you think." She said. Shortly after the darkness swallowed her up and her footsteps could not be heard anymore.

There was a brief moment of complete silence before Jake could see lasers and heard the yelling of men in the same direction as Trixie disappeared. _Trixie, no!_ In panic for her safety he ran after her. He had to protect her, he had to keep her safe. Now that he had seen her there was no way he was going to loose her.

He neared the area only to be tackled into a tree unexpectedly by the person he forgot was there, Spud.

Spud had one hand holding them both to the tree and another over Jake's mouth, "Dude, Huntsclan rolled in a few minutes ago. I don't know what their fighting but we've got to go." He said, panting and out of breath.

Jake pushed him off angrily, "I know! That's why I'm going!"

Spud angrily pushed him back into the tree, "Maybe you didn't hear me there's the Huntsclan and some freaky cat thing back there, it's time for Jakey-poo and Spudinski to go home now."

Jake stood up and began heading for the lights and noise, "Trixie!" was all he said.

"Trixie?" Spud questioned as he ran after Jake, "I didn't see her in the brawl at all."

"The cat thing."

Spud tripped over an overturned root of a tree, dirt and weeds getting into his mouth, "What!" he squealed, spitting it all out. He quickly got up and followed Jake, whose strides took him considerable far from him in that short amount of time.

"Get her!"

"ARG!"

"Bring here down!"

They heard the carnage before they saw it. Crouching behind some bushes and peering through they could see the massive group of Huntspeople. Trixie stood in the center of the mob, tail thrashing wildly about as her eyes scanned the area, a few of the huntsclan soldiers laying face down in the dirt in front of her.

Jake remembered her growl so when he heard it again it sent chills up and down his spine—very good chills. He could feel his own growl wanting to come out. He watched her, with the yearning to join her, with a great anticipation. She wasn't the sassy-mouth girl he once knew; she was something more, something greater. He could see an aura of great power surrounding her body, one that wasn't there before. He once asked himself if that could really be Trixie.

On one side, the hoard of Huntsclan members suddenly began to part into two fractions like the red sea and from the gap came a hooded figure, slender with a staff and a whip like object hanging from the back of its head. It walked into the center of the circle, in front of Trixie and shoved the pointed end of its staff into the ground.

In laughed a cold-hearted laugh and began to speak, "Trixie, Trixie, Trixie, out trying to be a hero are we?" it asked with a voice so silky and cold in was almost inhuman.

Trixie stood up straight, all of her cat like features disappearing, and smiled. She pushed her hair out of her face and shifted her weight to one side, folding her arms, "Wuddup sista-girl?" she said.

The person across from her didn't seem to like that very much, it frowned, "Give us the gold." Trixie didn't move, a smug smile still plastered across her face. "I said…"

"I heard you, girl. I just don't feel like giving it to you."

The huntsclan members behind the girl began to stir but with one swift motion of her gloved hand the settled down to a low murmur. "I will give you until the count of three to hand over that gold."

No answer.

"One," The person adjusted the gloves on her hands, "Two," she cracked her neck and stretched her arms, "Last chance, Traitor."

"No dice." Trixie said, pulling off her jacket and throwing it over the crowd in some random direction.

"Have it your way. Three!" She removed the hood and threw it to one of the Huntsmembers behind her, long blond, braid flipping about. Her blue eyes sparkled pure evil in the moonlight and her red lips curled into a smile.

Jake thought he really was in a bad dream this time. "Rose, " he managed to mouth to himself as he felt his sense of conciseness slowly slipping away.

Rose launched herself at Trixie, some sort of grunt escaping from her mouth. Trixie dodged effortlessly with a sidestep. Rose rounded on her, angrier than the first time, and threw out a kick and another and another only to be denied each time.

"ARG!" Rose yelled in agitation, "Just stand still and take your beating like the traitorous bitch you are!" She jumped up spun three times and came down, heel of her foot aiming straight for Trixie's head.

Trixie looked at the on coming foot, smiled and as her eyes began to glow red, raised her hand and caught Rose right before they collided. After slamming her foe into the moist dirt beneath her she let out a deep throaty almost maniacal laugh.

Jake flinched. For whom, he did not know. Spud noticed but said nothing, the fight taking place before him had his full attention.

Rose hoisted herself out of the dirt and flipped over to where her staff still protruded upwards. With one ferocious yank it was in her hand, whirling over her head in a circle. "I grew tired of your childish behavior a long time ago, Trixie!"

"I grew tired of your face a long time ago, Rose." Trixie retorted.

With that Rose had had enough. She began firing off her staff at Trixie as fast as she could but Trixie was to fast, dodging every beam left and right, causing them to hit her Huntsclan foot soldiers.

"Going to have to do better than that." Trixie taunted, sticking her tongue out at Rose and making funny faces.

Rose's bright blue eyes narrowed into slits as she grew steadily more annoyed with Trixie's actions. Panting, she plunged her staff deep into the earth again, "You could have been great." She managed to say between huffs and puffs.

Trixie's eyes stopped glowing, as she began listening to what Rose had to say with great distain.

"You could have been great!" she yelled again.

Trixie held up one of her elegant fingered hands to silence Rose and lifted her head to the sky, "I suppose I could have been—and for a while I was the best. Better than you in fact," she ignored the scoff from Rose and continued, "But, I remembered the value of life—late—but I realized it."

"You are so full of bullshit! Magical filth must be eradicated."

Jake flinched again.

Trixie eyes flashed red, "You'll hush up if you know what's good for you." She scorned.

Rose straightened up and looked to the sky that was now increasing in brightness,. She held out her hand and almost immediately her huntsclan mask was given to her. She put it on and grabbed her staff, "Until next time Trixie," she said, "For now I bid you farewell." Then she turned to the rest of her huntsclan, "MOVE OUT!" and in a puff of smoke they were all gone.

Jake quickly rushed in, hoping to get hold of Trixie before she to disappeared but he wasn't so fortunate. He stumbled into the area just as all the smoke was dissipating, Spud stumbling after.

They both stood there, bemused by the spectacle that took place in front of them and nearly blinded from the sunlight pouring in through the canopy of leaves overhead. Without meaning to, Spud glared angrily at Jake, "Are you sure that was Trixie?" he asked in a rather angry tone.

Jake ignored the way Spud was talking to him and nodded, "I spoke to her, it's Trixie. She's just a bit different now."

"Gee, ya think?" Spud said in another distasteful tone.

Jake rolled his eyes, not knowing how to take Spud's tone. He looked towards the now pale blue sky and sighed, "Come on, let's head home. We got what we came for."

"You got what you came for," Spud mumbled so quietly under his breath that Jake barley picked it up. He didn't react to it, he just aloud Spud to push past him.

Before exiting the fight site something caught Jake's eyes, a bright red jacket hanging off a branch nearby. He smiled, looked around and silently put it away in his pack, "Trixie," he said to himself.

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	7. Chapter 7

**Okay yes it's taken me like forever to update this story. I hit a temporary snag in writting.**

**Why? Check out my profile page to get a link to my website and find out.**

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The ride back to Jake's house was stone cold silent. Spud refused to turn on the radio and refused all of Jake's suggestions for CD's.

Jake knew Spud was angry with him even if he couldn't figure out exactly why. There was no concrete reason for Spud to be angry, in his opnion. Trixie was alive, they both got to see her—for goodness sakes that's what they came for.

Trixie—she looked so great. She looked great before but now she was all grown up. Her jet black hair was now sleek and chic and hung loose around her shoulders and down her back. She was so fit and muscular. Jake hated to admit it but when he first saw her his eyes lingered for a while on her hips and the area below her neck.

His fingers twitched in remembrance of how smooth her skin looked, how much he wanted to just touch her. And her scent—Jake sighed—her scent was amazing. He felt a little more dragon than human when they were hugging for those few moments. He found himself clinging to his legs, trying so hard to keep himself from imagining to much.

"We're here." Spud's voice interrupted his more than inappropriate thoughts.

Jake studdered for a moment before collecting himself and forming a coherent sentence. "Okay. Uh," he started to initiate a conversation with Spud but ultimately decided against it, "See you later, man."

"Yeah, sure."

Jake got out of the car and as soon as his door was closed Spud sped off in a blur or rust and rubber.

Up the stairs and into his townhouse, Jake went straight to his room and threw his pack on his bed, closing the door as softly as he could. The excitement of having found Trixie, having seen her after so long was overwhelming him.

A shower, he decided, would be a nice way to relax and collect his thoughts.

He quietly tiptoed down the hallway, passed Halley's door and shut the bathroom door quietly. He turned on the lights and jumped a little at his reflection. Chuckling a bit he got an inkling as to why Trixie didn't recognize him immediately. He didn't look like his old self. There were similarities but the differences outweighed them by a lot. His hair was still spiky, jet black and tinted green at the ends. His skin was still a shade of bronze that no tanning bed could achieve. His eyes were the same but… even to him they seemed a bit different. In any case he wasn't in the mood for analyzing himself at 5am.

He turned the water on hot, stripped down and then hopped in.

Jake sighed, letting the steaming hot water roll from his face, to his broad and tense shoulder, down his torso and legs and off his feet. It was the perfect end to the perfect stakeout.

He stayed there, still, letting the water fall around him for a good ten minutes before grabbing his scrub and soaping himself up. There was so much sweat, dirt and grim to wash away, he couldn't deny it. His last shower was probably a few days before this one. Ew, he thought, I'm gross.

His shower ended after forty-five minutes with two scrub downs and three rinse-and-repeats. He stepped out of the steamy bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist, and headed down the hallways towards his room.

Once in his room he threw the towel to the floor and strutted over to his dresser in all his naked man glory, stopping on for a moment to admire himself in the mirror. He pulled out a pair of red, plaid boxers and slipped them on.

"Oh, please don't stop the show on my account." A voice came from behind him; he jumped and whirled around only to find that no one was there.

He stared into the moonlight area of his room where a pile of dirty clothes cluttered his bed. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, there was no person. He stepped closer, with the knowledge that there could be someone under an invisibility spell in his room.

He held his hands out in front of him, feeling his way through the room as though he were a blind person. "Come out and show yourself!" he angrily whispered into the darkness.

Jake continued to feel his way around until he reached his bed and sat down. He sighed, confused and disoriented. Had he just imagined Trixie's voice?

He felt two hands slide up his back and around his shoulders, to frozen to react. "You have grown, Jake. You have grown." Trixie whispered into his ear, running her hands over the chorded muscles of his back.

Her hot breath tickled his ear lobes but he could not move, he could not react even though every fiber in his being wanted to. He let her continue to roam his body with little thought on the subject. Her fingers traced patterns down his spine, around his shoulders and on the nape of his neck—he was not complaing about how it tickled a little. He let out a small stuttered breath, closed his eyes and sighed.

"How did you…" He stopped midsentence when she slipped her hands from his lower back, around to the front and ran her fingers around his ab muscles.

She chuckled and leaned forward so that her cheek was pressed on Jake's back, "I was gone for a long time Jake, but not that long." She told him in a soft tone. She remembered all the good times they had, she would never forget, but time had made her put those memories away for quite a while.

After a moment of silence Jake suddenly found the strength to grab one of Trixie's hands that were wrapped around his stomach and pull her so that she sat in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her, one hand lost in the tangles of her hair and the other clinging to her waist from fear she would disappear. This is what he wanted, just to hold her, to have her in his arms.

Trixie spoke just then, "You stole my jacket." She laughed a little, Jake joining in.

He loosened his grip on her, but only enough so he could look down at her face and smile, "I know it sounds stupid but…"

"You were going to have Foo smell it and track me down. So predictable." She chuckled and ran her fingers through Jake's black hair.

Jake enjoyed the way her fingers felt against his scalp, salvaging every memory his nerve endings gave him. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so—unburdened, so free of the weight he had been carrying on his shoulders for three years.

Trixie got out of his hold, Jake flinched forward and she turned on him. Her face was hard at first but quickly softened, "Just looking around, relax," she told him. His body relaxed but he was still on guard mentally, in case she tried to run.

She looked around the room. Going from the dressers to the closet, from the window to the wall with all of his posters and a few pictures, "Haven't changed a bit have you." She stated.

Jake didn't respond, just kept a very close eye on her. She looked so different that how he remembered her, so much more grown up. No more afropuffs on the side of her head, all the baby fat was gone and replaced by muscle. She walked differently, her carefree strides from the past turning into strained steps, like she waiting for something to attack her. She had her guard up, even when around Jake, her friend—he wondered why.

She finished her tour and sat next to Jake on the bed, "You have some questions for me, I expect."

Jake turned so he didn't have to look at her. He closed his eyes, the image of her with a tail and red eyes took over the darkness. With a sigh, he leaned back on his elbows, "How?" was all he said.

It was Trixie's turn to be silent.

She sat, thinking of how to explain thing to Jake without making him feel worse. She wanted to tell him in a way that wouldn't completely confuse him and drive him to get angry because of his on inability to understand.. "That night," she started slowly, "That night something happened that I still can't explain."

Jake sat upright; finally about to get the answers he had feverishly searched for three years for.

Trixie touched the right side of her face and Jake silently kicked himself for besmirching the beauty of her face so wrongfully with that scar. It seemed to shine in the pale daylight starting to filter in through his window. She looked into the mirror atop his dresser and continued.

"The night you gave me this scar a transformation took place. Inside of me," she whispered, "It didn't manifest until about a year after I had been taken but… it was wonderful." There was a tone in her voice, full of awe and fascination.

Jake somehow understood that her turning into a cat-thing was somehow his doing, somehow he had expected it. "The Huntsclan, where did they take you? What did they do to you? Why didn't you escape once you knew about…"

"I'm getting to it, Jakey!" she silence him, "The Huntsclan took me while I was still unconscious, that much I'm sure you know. The NYPD wrote me off as a terrorist attack or something right? That I was dead somewhere." She waited while Jake nodded and confirmed what she already knew. She chuckled, "Good ol' New York law enforcement."

Jake stood up slowly but didn't move toward her.

"They took me to some facility of theirs in the mountains. At first they wanted information—about you. 'Who is the American Dragon? Where can we find him? How do we destroy him?' they asked me every day for hours on end as they…" she stopped before continuing with the sentence. She would have to choose her words carefully around Jake.

"Did they… did they do anything to you?" he asked in a strained voice.

Trixie turned, "Jake,"

"Answer the question."

His voice leveled out when he took a deep breath and Trixie decided that he could take it. Now that she was exposed there was no point in keeping the truth from him. She took a deep breath before continuing, "In the beginning they just started to starve me, hoping the hunger would make me so weak I would beg and tell them whatever they wanted. After six months of starving me with no results the moved on to psychological torture."

"All day they would take shifts sending people in to say all kinds of things. Some of them would try to make me believe that no one missed me. They would say that no one was looking for me. After that most of them would just call me names."

By the time Trixie took a moment to catch her breath Jake's fists were clenched into impenetrable boulders at his sides. He took several calming breaths and moved forward, now he had to be near Trixie. He placed a hand on her shoulder and just left it there, "I never stopped looking, hoping that you were okay, Trixie! I tried so hard to find you!"

She smiled, "I never believed them. I knew you and Spud were looking for me. I never gave up on that," there was a brief pause as she temporarily got lost in Jake's solemn eyes, "After the first year of unresponsive torture the HuntsKing himself decided to intervene. He gave me two choices. The first choice was that he could continue to have people torture me the second was that I could train with the rest of the Huntsclan."

"At first I took the torture but slowly I came around to the idea of training. I was going to die in the cell if I didn't find a way to get healthy again. So I told him yes."

"The training was hard at first but then the magic took hold. It made me stronger, faster than any of the rest of those bastards. At first I thought it was you somehow taking over my body and making me fight better. I wasn't completely wrong." She laughed. "Anyways, I quickly got bumped up the ranks until I was at the same level as… Rose."

Jake knew why the last word was so hard for her to say. Trixie hated Rose and as illustrated prior to their meeting Rose hated her too.

"I suppose that brings us to recent times, eh? All I can really tell you is that I left the Huntsclan with the intention of coming to find you and Spud, coming back to my old life but… I couldn't."

Jake squeezed her shoulder, "Why?"

"The old man is sick, Jake. Once he keels over, the spot for head of the Huntsclan is open. I want that spot." She told him. When she turned to face him, her eyes were glowing red, her jaw clenched tight, "I will be the HuntsQueen."

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	8. Chapter 8

**Vassup! Alright the hiatus is over. If you aren't on alert for my other stories then you probobly didn't know that I've made a miraculous return and have been busting out chapters as a result.**

**There has been a two chapter update on Bad Touch and I felt it was time to get this one up and rolling again. SO I present to you.... the next chapter.**

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"Think about it!" Trixie flared up as soon as saw the hurt expression on Jake's face, like she betrayed him. She knew he might take the news a bit rough. "Once I take over, I can make them do some good for the magical world."

Jake was still slowly backing away from her. Trixie as the head of the Huntsclan, the group born and raised to kill magical creatures, he couldn't believe it. A thought suddenly dawned on him, "Trixie… have you killed?"

She stiffened slightly, not wanting to answer. "You have to understand, Jake. I did what I did so I could come back."

"How many?"

"The Huntsman only sent me out once, he never liked me being out of his reach for to long," she knew he wanted more details than that and continued against her wishes, "It was an Ogre. Chopped off his head to prove my loyalty."

Jake didn't move. The note made sense now. There was a part of him that hoped it was fake or that it had some alternate meaning behind it, those hopes were dashed now. She killed an ogre, a member of the magical community. And then something hit him, "When I found you today, you didn't have a head in your bag. You didn't smell like blood." He told her.

Trixie froze up just then. She turned away from Jake and held herself, "I was taking the family some gold. I know it wouldn't make them forgive me or anything but at least they'd be well off." Tears welled up behind her eyes, "I killed an Ogre with a family. A wife, two kids and a home. I'm not proud of what I did, Jake, but…"

She couldn't continue. The memories were like a plague on her mind anytime and everytime she thought about it. She broke into there home, at random. There was no preparation or stalking involved, she literally played iny-miny-mieny-mo with innocent lives and, unfortunately, the ogre she killed was the looser.

That was a year ago. She felt compelled to try and give them something to make them a bit better off. An entire pot of gold, pure and straight off the leprechaun melting line. Weather she liked it or not, she had killed an innocent magical creature and she knew Jake would not, could not over look that. Even in a million years.

He was facing away from her by the end of her explanation, frozen and confused. He understood that she wasn't in a great situation. He understood that she basically didn't have a choice, kill or be killed, but he still couldn't believe that sweet, sassy Trixie took a life that he was sworn to protect. He couldn't believe how much she had changed.

Jake slowly turned around and stared at who was standing before him. It was, in fact, Trixie. She was, in fact, now a magical creature of some kind. She did, in fact, kill an innocent ogre. She was, in fact, still the same skateboarding, foul-mouthing, sassy-snapping, brown-eyed beauty that he had always known. Nothing could change that.

He crossed the distance between them, the room illuminated by enough sunlight that he didn't trip on anything in his room, and wrapped her in his arms. "I forgive you," was all he said before burying his face in her hair.

There was a moment of pure shock where Trixie just couldn't move, her entire body was numb. Slowly, because the feeling of Jake's skin against hers was to much to bare, the feeling in her arms came back and she wrapped them around Jake, not wanting to let go.

But she had to.

I one smooth motion she ducked out of his hold and grabbed her jacket, stopping at the window with one foot already through the pane. She gave Jake another once over and smirked, "You really have changed, Jakey." She then reached inside her pocket and pulled out a hair band, "Have Fu dog sniff this and then meet me there tonight," she tossed it to him.

He caught it with no problem, "Where are you going?" he asked, knowing that she wasn't going to answer him. It doesn't hurt to ask.

She chuckled, "Good bye, Jake."

Trixie slipped on her jacket and leapt out the window. Jake ran to it quick enough to see her land gracefully, slip on her hood and walk off down the sidewalk like nothing had happened. She disappeared sooner than he wanted her to in a see of early morning commuters.

He closed his window and hopped into his bed, slowly drifting off into his own head. He dreamt of Trixie, a lot. They were together in the dream, happy, just hanging out like they used to—and then there was Spud.

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Rose stomped hurriedly down the hallways of Huntsclan HQ, staff clutched in her hands so tightly that he knuckles were turning whiter than normal. Her nostrils flared, her cheeks were flushed—how could she have lost her so easily?

Damnit, Rose screamed in her head, "DAMN HER!" she screamed out loud.

Two huntsclan members suddenly appeared next to her. The first was a tall, thin man with hollow cheek bones and glasses sliding halfway down his nose, "Huntsgirl." He said with the mandatory salute. The second to arrive was carring a clipboard. She was shorter than Rose, Spanish with her curly hair flowing freely around her shoulders, "Huntsgirl." She too said.

Rose didn't look at either of them, one because they were underlings to her and two, because they meant nothing to her at the point in time. "Twenty six!" she screamed, addressing the girl with the clipboard.

"Maame?"

"I want squad B out looking for Trixie, files and reports on her past residencies and a mocha frappiccino." She said quickly.

Number twenty six, Lupe was her name, was used to Rose's orders being barked out at the speed of light and quickly got them all down. She saluted her boss and disappeared in a purple plume of smoke.

Rose ripped off her mask and thrust it into the boy's stomach, knocking him off balance a bit. He quickly recovered and she said, "Eleven, I want no one to disturb me tonight," she started, "Except for number sixty nine. Send him here immediately."

Eleven wanted to hurl straight into her mask and put it back onto her head. He never liked working for Rose but once Trixie escaped, it had been hell on earth being in the huntsclan. He, as well as half the people in the organization, could see that Rose was slipping, slowly, but slipping nonetheless. But with a great amount of hesitation he bowed, saluted her and then disappeared to go get number sixty nine.

Rose walked the rest of the way to the Huntsman's quarters by herself, engulfed in her own pity. She never liked going to see her dear uncle, especially not now with all of this drama going on. But he was sick, she was just waiting now, waiting for him to either miraculously get better or kick the bucket and let her take over the organization.

She got in an elevator, anyone who was in it got out in a hurry whether it was their floor or not. "Down!" she yelled at the elevator operating agent.

The Huntsman had raised her as though she were his daughter. She had the best training, the most experience and the best track record of any person in that building but she hated him. Hated and loved him for making her what she was. She often wondered what she would be like if she had never been taken from her parents. Would she be a weak female like all the others? Maybe she wouldn't but still… who was to say.

Ding. Her floor.

She walked out and took a left, unknown territory to all the other agents.

But Trixie had to come in and ruin everything. They beat her, whipped her, chained her, and starved her. The flogged her, drowned her, insulted her and took away her dignity so how… how did she manage to get so strong. Why the Huntsmaster have to like her so damn much. Rose wouldn't ever admit it to anyone but she was jealous of Trixie. She was jealous of how fast the Huntsmaster seemed to fall in love with her—along with everyone else.

It had been so easy for her there. She was released and allowed to train with the rest of them. Three days later it was like she was running the damn place. All the people Rose used to eat with in the cafeteria wanted to eat with Trixie. She was suddenly bumped to second place on the score board because Trixie broke every record in the institute. Her grades were better too. Boys would line up at Trixie's door and wait until she came out in the morning because the wanted to run with her, or take her out fro breakfast, or "study." One guy just wanted to touch her hair.

Everything Rose had worked for was stripped away from her the second Trixie was let loose and now… now she had this failure to deal with.

She finally reached the Huntsman's door and didn't bother to knock, he'd be expecting her by now so she walked in unannounced.

"Sir." She said as soon as she walked in, closed the door and dropped to her knees.

Before her sat the Huntsmaster, menacing and dark, sitting upon his thrown. He didn't look happy, he never looked happy, but today he was down right furious. Rose could only make out the silhouette of his body because of the glowing green light behind him. She could make out the horns on his helmet and the boulders of muscle that made up his body, which was all she needed to know it was him.

He frowned at her, indicated only by the narrowing of the glowing green eye slits in his mask, "Rose," he said with disgust, "My biggest failure."

She winced at the word. Failure. She kept her head down, she knew better than to look at the Huntsman when he was mad, "I'm sorry, master, but she was trained with us. She knows our every move." Rose began to make excuses without even realizing it. She bit her tongue.

"Silence!" Huntsman suddenly roared up, "Your excuses mean nothing to me. She is and always will be better than you if you continue to be such a sniveling," he put so much emphasis on the word, "coward. Admit that you are afraid of her."

"Master, I am not afraid of that filth!" Rose screamed, immediately regretting her outburst.

Huntsman grabbed his staff and stood up, slowly so Rose could the entirety of his aura pressing down on her, "Your outburst only cements your insecurities," he pointed the staff at her, making it glow a bright and dangerous green, "The next time will be your last."

Rose's breathing became heavy, she really thought he was going to kill her for a second. She spoke, trying to regulate her voice into a calmer tone than the one she had before, "I am sorry, master, please forgive me." And then she stood and turned away from him, "I will bring her back next time we find her. I promise you."

He sat back down and put his staff away, "See to it that you do not fail me again, dear Huntsgirl. Failure is not tolerated in this organization." When she did not exit after his statement he waved her off, "You may leave now."

"Yes," she paused, "Master."

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**I hope you liked it. I know I basically disappeared but it won't happen again. I missed you guys!**

**So as par to usual protical, Read and Review. Lemme know how you liked it.**

**Its time to get the ball rollin. YEEHAW!**


	9. Chapter 9

**So, it's been a while with this one, eh? As a Christmas present to myself and to anyone who cared [ESPECIALLY LOTUS, who got my butt back in gear] this story is now back online. Thank you guys for your support and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!**

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Jake and Fu Dog stood underneath a street lamp on the lower east side of the city. It hadn't taken long to get there from Jake's house but, seemed like another world entirely. His brown stone townhouse seemed like the tops in luxury compared some of these places he stood in front of now. A ragged old building sat before him, boarded up windows and a door with no less than three different Keep Out signs plastered onto it. The wood looked worn down and splintered from the various seasons that had affected it in the past. A red X above the door let Jake know that this building, along with several others next to it, were marked for demolition. However, in New York City, things marked for demolition could stay that way for decades before anyone did anything about it.

The sun was setting in the distance behind skyscrapers that could be seen from the neighborhood, it was strange to see the glittering brilliance of the heart of the city and then look around only to find dingy, gray and ordinary around him. This couldn't be the right place to find Trixie, she wouldn't be caught dead here, Jake thought to himself. Fu sat his side, looking at the street with an air of utter disgust. "I wouldn't lick my own butt after sitting on this street for too long." He scoffed.

Jake smirked and look to his right, "Fu, you sure this is the place?" he asked. He was skeptical and felt like he had been given the run around.

Fu sniffed the air and then nodded, every wrinkle on his face shifting and then resettling, "Yeah, she has made no effort to hide her smell. He leads up to that door and stops." He trotted up to the door and sniffed again, "Yup, wildflowers or berries."

Jake followed suit, walking up to the door. He inspected it visually; the dark wood with water spots and small holes in it seemed to have never been touched. He laid a hand on it and nudged slightly, the wood didn't move. There was just no way Trixie got in through the front door he deduced. His attention shifted upwards towards the boarded up windows of the house. They looked the same as the door, untouched. A thought suddenly dawned on him; Trixie had given him the run around.

"Hey, Jakey. Fu dog."

Jake whirled around so fast that his head spun. His eyes needed a moment to adjust before he finally focused on the figure in front of him. Trixie stood there with a few plastic bags. Her hair was tied back into a tight ponytail near the base of her skull and her eyes spoke volumes. She looked tired, like she had been up and at the day since she had left him earlier that morning, her could tell by the way her eyelids dropped half way over the orbs behind them. She wore a tired smile, one that told him she was not exactly displeased to see him but at the same time she really did not want him there. The air caught in his lungs started to beg to be let out and he spoke with purpose, "Trixie. Enough. You are coming back with me and we are going to talk."

She seemed not to hear him and held up the grocery bags, "Take one of these, will ya?" When Jake didn't move to help her she merely walked the rest of the way up to the door and set them down in front of him. "What a gentleman." She remarked.

Jake watched her as she searched through the messenger bag at her side. He grabbed her right hand, the one that was probing the bag and yanked it out, ignoring the fist she had clenched, "Trixie. Come with me willingly or I'll dragon up and drag you out of here."

She said nothing. Her eyes flashed red but with a blink it was gone. Jake had tensed, the grip on her arm hardening enough to make sure she couldn't wiggle out of his grasp but not hard enough to hurt her. He watched her carefully, she in turn returned the intense glare and between them time seemed to slow down immensely. They stayed locked in that position for a long while Jake taking in every detail of the girl before him. Her dirty brown boots, black leggings and oversized shirt up to bandana wrapped around her head. And then there was the scar, the scar he had given her.

She watched him through tired eyes as well. Starting with a pair of sneakers she could only describe as fly, up to his jeans that fit him a bit too perfectly, then to the white tee under his classic red jacket with his name written in gold over the right breast pocket. She wondered if he would ever get rid of that thing, she hoped not. She liked that the only things that changed about him over the years she was gone were his height, baritone of his voice and muscle tone. Those things were all superficial. He was still caring, still a hero, still a good person.

Fu dog cleared his throat to break the silence but when both of them were unresponsive he said, "I, uh, think we should get off the streets if you too are going to just stare at each other."

Trixie gave him a sideways glance and then smiled sleepily again. "You're right." Then all but her index and thumb opened from her clenched hand and from them dangled what looked like a car alarm button.

Jake briefly wondered if that button unlocked the door. "Trixie…"

"Hold on, boys." And she pushed the button.

In the blink of an eye they were all falling into darkness.

…

Spud sat in his room hunched over a large leather bound book written in ancient Sumerian. Lao Shi had told him to use his genius to figure out some of the spells so that they could make some new potions. Spud got the short end of that team endeavor because while he was using coherence spells and dictionaries to decipher words almost letter by letter, Lao Shi was in his garden, flitting through different herbs and spices to fuel the potions.

He sighed so loud and long the pages of the book ruffled. It wasn't fair. He never had a problem with Lao Shi making him do these things; he had to admit, back when Jake had to do them to. Now that Jake is more experienced he had to be in the field more than in the shop or in Grandpa's library. He felt under appreciated. Due to last nights events, he also felt a bit unfulfilled and maybe even betrayed by Jake. Jealous even.

He tried to push the thoughts out of his head but he did not sleep much, his mind would not let him sleep even for an hour or two. Jake hadn't told him anything, which sucked because he was the only one who got to see, talk to or even touch Trixie. It wasn't fair, he repeated to himself, he tried so hard to focus on the text in front of him and keep the same spell going in his mind. _Intripotus coherum lori, Intripotus coherum lori, Intripotus coherum lori, Trixie… _he shook it off, _Intripotus coherum lori…_

"GAH!" he shouted out loud into his room. He put his bookmark in between the pages of the book and then shut it rather forcefully. Leaning back in his chair he caught a glimpse of an old picture of himself, Jake and Trixie. Although it was taken only three years ago he couldn't help but think it looked like it was from another world or an alternate timeline where they had all once been close. He felt bad for letting his anger get to him like it was but—it was always an unspoken rule, in his mind at least, that if they found Trixie, he'd be the one to drag her out of trouble, not Jake. Jake was supposed to be in the car while he, Spud, spoke to Trixie.

He groaned again, this time going over to his bed and falling face first into his pillow. What a blow, what a gigantic blow.

He looked over to his bedside table and reached for the smartphone that lay idle on top of it. He pressed the central button, turning it on and proceeded to unlock it with his password, the date Trixie went missing. He spoke clearly into the speaker, "Call, Jake Long."

Beep beep, "Calling, Jake Long," a computerized woman's voice responded.

He put it on speaker so he didn't have to hold it at an awkward position. It rang, and rang, and rang…

"Hey, what, what, yo, check it! You callin' Jake Long, and I'm not here right now, but if you leave a message, girl, I'm gonna call you back and it won't be long." Jake's rapping voicemail went off.

With a sigh, Spud left a message. "Hey man," he droned, "I'm not a girl, not that girls call you, but you should come over once you get this and help me with this Sumarian bullshit. ASAP!" and with that he hung up. He thought about getting back to work and then ultimately decided it would be better to just go to sleep. Typical Spud.

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**It's short but, it gets everything moving again. Read and Review!**

**3**


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